A wonderful recreation of a vintage trailing arbutus soliflore...
Darren Alan does my state flower justice here, animating this low-growing, dainty flower's fragrance in a splendid soliflore. Also commonly known as "mayflower," Trailing Arbutus was, as legend would have it, one of the first flowering plants observed by Pilgrims after their first harsh winter in Plymouth Colony. A member or the heath family, they are closely related to blueberry and rhododendron , sporting evergreen leaves, creeping along forest floors beside moss under oaks and pines.
The story behind Darren's Trailing Arbutus is fascinating on its own, and involves Basenotes' own Derek Mohr (Varanis Ridari). From the website:
"It is an historic recreation of a perfume first released in the year 1900 by the German chemist and self-taught perfumer Adolph Goetting. He soon became employed as the head perfumer at the California Perfume Company (later to be purchased by Avon). I was lucky enough to be given a sample of this perfume by my good friend Derek Mohr, who is a well-known Basenotes reviewer, YouTube fragrance enthusiast and self-made perfume historian. After researching this perfume and coming across the original formula in the Hagley Digital Archives, I had to bring this rare gem back to life for the modern nose to experience."
The result is a gossamer vintage beauty, opening with a aubepine (hawthorn) accord and rosewood, crossfading into a soft muguet and other white flowers, and underlined with tolu balsam and Darren's own vintage musk accord. It just so happens to truly resemble the delicate, somewhat spicy, powdery floral scent of these white or light pink blooms (which one friend once remarked long ago that they smell like "old lady's perfume" so take that as you will!). Trailing Arbutus is another sheer delight from Darren Alan's Perfume of the Month series.
